May 15, 2017
by Sakina Nishitsuji, Miyabi Saeki and Shiho Tojo
Hoji-cha is a kind of Japanese green tea drunk by many people all over Japan, especially in Kyoto. Generally, it is roasted from Sencha, Ban-cha, or Kuki-cha.
- Sen-cha is a type of green tea. It is simple and a bit tart. It is the most popular tea in Japan.
- Ban-cha is a tea that people often drink. This tea is a late harvest tea. It has a simple, non-bitter taste.
- Kuki-cha has a higher sweetness and nicer aroma than other teas. It has a very good taste at a low cost. Almost all people can buy it easily.
Hoji-cha has a unique and nice smell, and the taste is good. So, almost all people, from Japanese children and adults to foreigners, can drink Hoji-cha. Hoji-cha is suitable for drinking with meals. The reason why is that it is not very stimulating and it has a good effect on the stomach. A lot of people come to Kyoto to buy tea from specialty stores, and they buy various kinds of tea. For example, Matcha, Sencha, Bancha, and Hoji-cha. Matcha is a very famous tea. Almost everyone’s idea of tea is Matcha. However, Hoji-cha also tastes good and has many varieties. Each kind of Hoji-cha has a different flavor. The colors of the tea leaves are different too. The picture below is that of Hoji-cha leaves, and it shows the difference in color between Kuki-Hoji-cha and GokujyoHoji-cha.
Kuki-Hoji-cha and GokujyoHoji-cha are sold in specialized tea shops. Foreign people like tea from Japan. Japanese specialized tea shops have various kinds of tea, and almost all of these shops were built in Kyoto. So, a lot of foreign people visit Kyoto to buy tea from these shops. There are also many people who buy it as a souvenir.
History
Hoji-cha first appeared in the early 1920s in Kyoto. Japanese tea companies tried to use leaves and stems to make tea. The leaves and stems were roasted. This is how Hoji-cha was made. A long time ago, that roasting method gave people a good result. This roasting method created a new procedure for making Hoji-cha and other kinds of tea. It creates a strong smell and flavor. Moreover, it has a fascinating aroma. Sone people drink Hoji-cha like coffee in the morning. Today, many makers of Hoji-cha use large tumbler machines to roast the tea leaves. This process removes some of the caffeine. In this way, it becomes a green tea that doesn’t have much caffeine.
How to Make Hoji-cha
1. Cultivate the tea leaves. One must grow tea leaves in a tea garden.
2. Tea-picking. On the eighty-eighth day of spring, pick the first tea leaves. Plant new tea leaves at the beginning of the year. By the end of April, the leaves develop their flavor. Then, we can pick them.
3. Steam. The next process is steaming. Steam the leaves within half a day of picking them. Steaming can take 15-20 minutes. (It prevents the color and the smell of the young leaves from disappearing.)
4. Drying while rubbing the tea leaves. Rub the leaves that were steamed. This will spread the taste across the whole leaf. Rub it coarsely at the first, and then gradually rub more gently. All the leaves have to be equal. Remove any water to prevent a change in quality.
5. Parch with high temperature. After finishing the process of steaming, sort the stems from the leaves. Roast the coarse leaves with a machine. This process can remove caffeine. The nice smell of Hoji-cha is born.
How to Drink Hoji-cha
1. Warm up an empty cup.
2. Brew the leaves in 100-degree water for several minutes. Then pour the tea into the warm cup.
3. After 30 seconds, you can begin to drink it.
Brewing Guide for Different Teas
| Amount of tea leaves | The temperature | Amount of hot water | Time | |
| Gyokuro | 3g | 50℃ | 20ml | 150sec |
| Sen-cha | 3g | 70℃ | 60ml | 90sec |
| Karigane | 3g | 80℃ | 60ml | 60sec |
| Hoji-cha | 3g | 100℃ | 130ml | 30sec |
| Brown rice tea | 3g | 100℃ | 130ml | 30sec |
| Matcha | 2g | 80℃ | 60ml | - |
Ippodo
Ippodo is a very famous store in Kyoto that specializes in tea. The company of Ippodo broadened premium Japanese green tea for Japanese people. The company was founded almost three centuries ago as a shop called Omiya, on Teramachi Street. The name changed to “Ippodo” in 1846. Ippodo gradually became famous in Japan and extended their line of tea products. In the old days, making tea was difficult, but recently it has become easy to make tea step by step.
Hoji-cha Sweets
There are many kinds of Hoji-cha sweets in Kyoto. For example, Hoji-cha parfait, Hoji-cha pudding, Hoji-cha cake, Hoji-cha chocolate, and so on. The most famous Hoji-cha sweet is Hoji-cha soft ice cream. You can buy and eat it in Arashiyama, Gion, and some other popular sightseeing places. You can also enjoy Hoji-cha sweets in Kyoto where there are many kinds of Japanese sweets shops. Hoji-cha sweets are not as famous as Matcha (powdered green tea) sweets, but they are worth eating. Hoji-cha’s taste is very different from Matcha’s. It is unique and very delicious. If you want to eat some Japanese sweets, why don’t you try Hoji-cha sweets?
Conclusion
In conclusion, Hoji-cha is a kind of Japanese green tea. One can buy it from some vending machines, supermarkets, and also most Japanese tea shops, such as Ippodo. However, its taste is different depending on where you buy it. Vending machines that have Hoji-cha can be hard to find, and the taste is very standard. There also isn’t much variety to choose from. However, it is cheap at around one hundred yen for a 550ml bottle. Hoji-cha from the supermarket is also cheap. This is because a lot is made by some major companies, like Itoen and Suntory. That said, there is still not a lot of variety, the most readily available kinds being generic blends.
Hoji-cha leaves from a tea shop can be a bit more expensive to buy at first, but there are many kinds of Hoji-cha available, and you can make more tea from them. Different kinds of Hoji-cha can have very different tastes and smells, especially when compared to what’s available at the supermarket. Ippodo at Kyoto, Kawaramachi has a varied list of quality Hoji-cha tea leaves for sale. For example, their Gokujyo Hoji-cha has a light flavor, whereas their Kuki Hoji-cha is sweeter and has a stronger smell. Also its taste changes depending on how one prepares it. We wrote about how to prepare it, so if you want to drink tasty Hoji-cha you should try it that way with leaves bought from a tea shop. In short, Hoji-cha can be enjoyed in a lot of different ways depending on what you prefer, whether that be the convenience of Hoji-cha from a supermarket or the quality of tea leaves from a tea shop.